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Grounds Maintenance

At Pleasant Valley Landscapes, Inc., we understand that each property is different. That's why we offer comprehensive Grounds Maintenance services to meet your year-long needs and keep your property looking its best through all the seasons.

General Clean Up - Mulching & Edging of Landscape Bed

Our general clean up utilizes the following services, any time of the year, to enhance and beautify your landscaped mulch beds:

Deep EdgingAll mulch beds and tree rings will be edged at a right angle to a depth of 1"-3".

Prep. WorkHand weeding, pruning, flagging of irrigation heads, leaf & debris removal, removal off excessive mulch build-up, reviewing work to be done with supervisor or foreman, etc. Services will be provided “as needed”. Pricing will vary dependent upon the time of year and condition of the property at the time service(s) are performed, and will be prorated by the man hour.

MulchingAll mulch beds & tree rings will be mulched to a depth of +/- 1 – 3” using high quality, double shredded hardwood bark mulch. PVL will evaluate how much mulch exists in the beds and add the appropriate amount. Please keep in mind that excessive mulch can be detrimental to the trees & plants. Prorated by the cubic yard of mulch.

Pre-emergent Weed Control(2) applications of a specialized herbicide will be applied to mulch beds. This will minimize weed activity. One application in the spring and one in the fall. Please keep in mind that this will not eradicate weeds and PVL recommends Round-Up spraying and hand weeding at least once per month during the growing season. Overlaps with monthly maintenance program

Fertilization of Trees and Shrubs(2) applications of a 14-14-14 analysis fertilizer. All shrubs and ground cover will be fertilized in the spring. All ornamental deciduous trees up to a 6" caliper will be fertilized in the late summer. Overlaps with tree/shrub care program

Round up ApplicationsApplied to all weeds and grasses in open areas of mulch beds, as needed, dependent upon time of year and property conditions. Keep in mind that this is more effective than hand-weeding because Round-Up will kill weeds from the root up. Any & all weeds that are close to a plant will be hand pulled and billed per prep work (item #2). Overlaps with monthly maintenance program.

Hauling and Disposal of DebrisIn most cases, only one load is necessary.

Reshaping of Beds & Tree RingsTree rings will be reshaped and enlarged to be more proportionate to the size of the tree. Bed shapes will be adjusted to reflect a smooth, flowing bed line.

Optional Services

Additional Pruning Visits after General Clean-up(2) to (3) pruning visits following initial general clean up services. The visits are usually performed in June/July and October/November

Annual Flower Rotations

Summer annuals – large 1 gallon summer annuals on 12” center installed in the late spring

Fall annuals- large 1 gallon pansies on 12” centers installed in the late fall

Fall bulbs – planted on 6” centers underneath fall pansies, these will come up in the spring

Bed preparation – done before each flower rotation:

edged to a depth of 3” redefining them from surrounding areas

loosening soil to a depth of 4 – 6” – beds may be mounded to encourage proper drainage

organic matter will be spread over the bed area to a depth of 1” (if needed)

fertilizer will be top dressed over the bed areas at the rate of four pound of 14-14-14 slow-released fertilizer per 100 sf

entire bed will be mulched to a minimum depth of 1” with pine fines

weeding of bed areas

removal of previous flower rotation

annual flowers/bulbs are not guaranteed

Lawn Mowing Program

For your convenience, both the lawn mowing and leaf removal programs are automatically updated each year once you are on your schedule!

Seasonal mowing of lawn on a +/- 7 day basis or as needed in the summer (avg. # of cuts = +/- 32 per season)

Grass clippings will be recycled on the lawn unless otherwise noted (bagging is optional at an additional cost)

Mowing price may increase from the initial estimated cost during extremely wet periods when lawn cannot be cut on a weekly basis. This is very rare and has only happened a few times over 14 years of business.

Leaf Removal Program

Late October - November2 to 3 cleanups are performed in conjunction with them mowing of the turf. Leaf removal is performed in the following areas: lawn, walkways, driveways and decks. Leaf removal from mulch beds will not be performed at this time unless requested. Mowing & leaf removal visits are roughly 14 days apart in November / December.

December1 to 2 cleanups are done in conjunction with the mowing of the turf and will be performed when most of the leaves have fallen. Leaf removal will be performed in the following areas: lawn, walkways, driveways, decks, window wells and mulch beds.

PricingThe pricing for leaf removal equals the regular mowing charge plus charge per man hour (2 man hour minimum) for additional time spent on removing the leaves (in other words, the extra time spent beyond the time normally spent to mow the lawn). In addition:

leaf vacuum / hauling & disposal charge (charged per visit) will apply in addition to the above charges if leaves cannot be disposed of on your property (depends on the amount of leaves)

please note that if leaves are to be disposed of in woods, but it is a considerable distance to move the leaves to the woods, then it may cost less to haul leaves away because of the time necessary to move the leaves a long distance (charged per man hour).

Monthly Maintenance Program

Our Monthly Maintenance Program is comprised of 10 visits per season/year and is designed to maintain your landscaped mulch bed. The program is 10 visits between March and December – the visits are approximately 3 -5 weeks apart and consist of: